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Cyatheaceæ.
TAB. XXL
A L S O P H IL A . B r. Presl.
C y a t h e .!!. Sp. Auct. C h n o o p h o k a . Kaulf. Enum. Fil. {Catal. Herh. exporte).
A l s o p h il æ Sect. I I . H a p l o p h l e b ia , et I I I . D ic r a n o p h l e b ia . Mart.
Sori in medio dorsi venarum simplicium au t in ima basi (ala) furcaturæ venarum,
globo.si, a udi. iîe c e p ia c ü ta globosum, pilosum. S /o ran y ia densissime imbricata,
pedicellata, p a rv a .Arbores, unica species herbácea (A. p ru in a ta ), sæpe aculeatoe.
Caudex teres a ut irregulariter angulatus. Cicatrices stipitum in ordine spirali senario
Cjb), remotoe, ovato-oblongoe, in apicem acutum productæ, concaviusculæ; verrucis externis
in orbem, internis in arcum semilunarem dispositis, superioribus binis, lacunis
infra cicatricem maximis. F rondes herbaceoe, supradecompositoe, amploe. Venæ
pinnatæ, infra prominulæ, inferiores uni-Ufurcatoe, superiores simplices, aut omnes
simplices, venulis divergentibus. Presl.
Alsopliila aspera. B r Ilook. et Grev. le . Fil. t. 2 1 3 , 214, and 2 15? {le. caps.
malæ).— Cyathea. Sm .—Polypodium. L .—Sw.
Tlie Genus Alsophila, as now circumscribed by Presl, is a very natural one. The naked
rounded sori, at first sight, give the appearance of a Polypodium ; but the elevated receptacle,
and tlie different nature of the sporangia, annulus, and seeds, mark the group of
Cyatheaceæ. Martins unites with Alsophila, Trichopteris, Presl, and Polypodium rostralum,
Willd., which latter, together with P . Parkeri, Hook, et Grev. Ic. Fil. t. 232, constitute
the Genus Metaxya, Presl, {Amphidesmium, Schott)—but these, though agreeing with
Alsophila in the fructification, differ in the venation, in the disposition of the sori,-and,
above all, in habit.
The species of this genus are numerous, chiefly confined to the tropics, and very difficult
to be distinguished in the Herbarium specimens, which exhibit so small a portion of the
plant. Mr Bauer’s figures were made from a living individual, growing in the Royal
Gardens of Kew, wliich was raised by seeds taken by Mr J . Smith from a Jamaica specimen,
and which is now (1838) a fine healtliy plant, witli a caudex one foot high, and fronds
four feet in length. “ The sori,” Mr Smitli observes, “ in the early stage, are quite confluent,
and the whole frond densely covered with scales; but the.se are deciduous, falling
off long before the sori are perfected. Sometimes a few scales remain, and appear as if
they were attached under the sori, but it is evident tliat they are only lield there by the enlargement
of the sporangia, and that they cannot be considered in the light of on indusium.”—
Another species of this genus (A. excelsa) has been already figured in this work (Tab. IX.).
F ig . I. Pinnules, seen from beneath (examined in August, 1834); magn. 10 diam.—/ . 2. Smaller
portion of the same (examined in September o f the same year) ; m. 10 diam.—/ 3. Young sorus, with
an indusium-like scale ; 30 diam.—/ . 4. Young sporangia, from the same ; m. 100 diam.—/ 5. A
small portion from the same plant (examined in October, 1834).—/ . 6. Two sori from the same ; m. 30
diam.—/ . 7. Three sporangia from the same ; m. 100 d iam .- ^ / 8. A small portion from the same
plant (examined in February, 1835): m. SO diam.—/: 9. Sorus from the same; m. SO diam,—/ 10.
Two sporangia from the same ; m. 100 diam.—/ 11. Sporules ; m. 40Ü diam,
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